Zack took a deep, steadying breath. The revelations about his bloodline and physique threatened to short-circuit his brain. The information was too dense, too alien, to fully process in one sitting.
He decided to shift the bloodline and Physique aside first as what his eyes where focused on the evolution points on the window panel.
"System what are this Evolution points used for?" Zack questioned the system.
[Evolution Points, or EP, is the currency used to evolve any ability you have copied from its initial rank to a higher one. The higher the target rank, the greater the EP cost. Simple economics, really.]
the system explained
"I thought I wasn't going to be surprised by you but this is insane, you mean I can evolve an ability and its rank into a higher version?" Zack was in stupor as he could not believe it.
[Yes of course] the system affirmed.
"This isn't just a cheat… it's a double-layered, premium cheat!" Zack exclaimed, a surge of exhilaration making his heart race. His mind immediately spun with countless possibilities, strategies forming like constellations.
Then, a memory from those old, dusty webnovels surfaced. An expectation, born of cliché, took hold. "You know, in the stories I skimmed, the system usually gives the main character a welcome bonus. A little starter pack. Some free EP, maybe?" He looked at the holographic screen with renewed, hopeful expectation.
[No]
The rejection was flat and immediate.
"Why"
[Am no charity] the system replied bluntly
"You are a damn system, can't even give a welcome bonus" Zack said with annoyance.
[You want a welcome bonus, right?]
"Yeah of course I will love to" Zack's eyes sparkled.
[Get your Ass to Work then if you want to get some Ep]
"Ah, I hate you System, you are so stingy" Zack wanted nothing more than to punch this damn system.
[Maybe if I hadn't activated, your poor miserable life would have ended]
And immediately Zack threw a punch but it passed through the holographic screen hitting nothing but the air as the air was distorted by his punch. Who knew this system was capable of a roast.
[Nice punch though, but you gotta put some work into it]
the system said sarcastically.
"You damn system you are a scumbag and what the hell is with that remark" Zack could only yell at the system.
"Since am not getting a welcome bonus, then how do I earn Ep?" Zack asked as frustration was visible in his tone.
[In the end you still need my help]
the System mocked him and Zack got infuriated but then he calmed down.
"Fine I need your help, so can l know how to earn Ep now pleaseee" Zack pleaded.
[So, you can beg]
"Just tell me already damnit" Zack was frustrated at system mode of annoyance.
[Very well. To earn Evolution Points, you must absorb the primal energy contained within the core of monsters and dimensional beasts. It is the condensed essence of their evolution. You must take it for your own.]
"So, in order for me to obtain Ep I must absorb the energy within the core of a beast or monster?"
[Absolutely]
"Then I guess my life is about to get rough" Zack said with a helpless sigh as he remembers the Skin crawlers.
"I have a question to ask, why didn't you awaken earlier why did it had to be when death looked me in the eye" Zack asked the system, as he wondered why didn't the system awaken earlier, why was it at that moment.
[The catalyst was insufficient. Your natural absorption rate of ambient Bane Energy as your world terms it, was too slow and inefficient. I required a massive, instantaneous surge of catalytic energy to break my slumber. I have been dormant within the artifact you wear.]
"wait you mean that this necklace on my neck is an actually an artifact that housed you" Zack grabbed at the pendent on his neck, as disbelief spread on his face.
The neck was gifted to Zack by his father on this eighth birthday, as gift before his disappearance and that of his own father, Zack's grandfather and their entire fleet during an expedition to another world.
'where did dad get this pendent from?' the question settled in his head.
[Correct. The extreme stress of your mortal peril, combined with the concentrated Bane Energy released by the spatial crack and the attacking creatures, created a localized energy spike. That surge was the final key. It accelerated my activation protocol.]
The system replied.
Zack accepted the system's explanation.
"Hmm, so this means that I can copy and evolve any ability I want?" A smirk curved on Zack's lips as he thought of the countless possibilities and ways to use this opportunity he had gotten.
"The academy is gonna be a good place to farm abilities" Zack grinned just the thought of it was exciting.
"Guess I have to get stronger" the near-death experience replaying in his head a constant remainder of the price of weakness.
"all those who looked down on me and mocked me will one day beg me on their knees. Even those bastards at the Lyon estate who took my rightful position from me and tossed us out I will make sure you all regret it" Zack said with determination on his face as a zeal has been ignited.
"An X-rank ability, an ability whose rank is unknown, a locked ability, its name unknown and rank filled with question marks" The grin on Zack's lips got wider.
Having two abilities one was deemed a one in a million talent, but three, it was another level on its own, here they are known as the extraordinary, one in a billion.
***
Five days later, August 27, year 2575
On the rooftops of apartments in Zack's and Alex's neighborhood, decorations, decorative lights and celebration filled the rooftops, as today was the world Awakening day Celebration.
A day when the first awakenings began during the era of chaos and despair.
Every resident of each apartment building gathered on their building's rooftop to celebrate together.
On the rooftop of their Seven story apartment building, was the entire residents of the building, the atmosphere was filled with celebration, peace and Joy, the women helping to pass the food around.
Asking the children if their food was okay or they needed more, the jokes and the laughter of the men, as they held their beer. The non-stop chit chat of the ladies, the joyful voice of the teenagers.
The shouts of the happy children, Sora chasing their neighbor's little daughter to wear her slippers, a girl she had grew fond of.
While Zack and Alex who had stopped by, were leaning on the railing of the rooftops edges in their hands a soda, their gazes looking at the distant skyscrapers and neon colors of the central sector, as aircrafts drifted through its skyline.
The cool night breeze washed over them, carrying away the last remnants of hospital antiseptic and fear, rustling their hair.
"Well, Zack… here we are," Alex said, taking a sip. "About to step into a whole new world. Beyond human limits. In three days, we're on the transport to our future."
"You're right, Alex," Zack replied, his eyes tracing the patterns of stars above the city lights. "We're stepping into an uncharted future. Full of dangers we've only had a taste of. A destiny we can't see. It's a different world from this… peace." He gestured vaguely at the joyful chaos behind them.
"Here we alive to see this day, so cheers mate to a new beginning, a step into the unknown" Alex said as he brought his soda forward towards Zack who did the same thing.
"Cheers" They said in sync as their soda cans clattered against each other.
At that exact moment, the first of the night's fireworks burst over the city, a chrysanthemum of silver light that bloomed silently against the dark, followed by a distant, muffled thump.
For Zack, the celebration was a backdrop to the quiet storm in his mind. The dreams, the foreign body, the dying woman with a smile. The bloodline and physique of mythic origin. The system that awoke from his father's pendant. Each piece was a fragment of a puzzle he didn't have the picture for.
The question rose, quiet and persistent, beneath the fireworks' glow: 'Was this all a series of coincidences? Or was it a script, written long ago, that he was only now beginning to read?'
The events were starting to connect, but the pattern they formed was a deeper mystery, one that promised to unravel only with time, and with every step he took into that unknown future.